I wanted to let everyone know that you can get Congressman Patrick Murphy's book on Amazon.com via a pre-order. I already ordered mine and I can't wait to get it in the mail. The link is http://www.amazon.com/Taking-Hill-Philly -Baghdad-Congress/dp/0805086951/ref=pd_b bs_sr_1?ie=UTF8&s=books&qid=1202 313991&sr=8-1
Reading the remarks of netroots candidate Patrick Murphy speak on the House floor in support of his first piece of legislation makes me feel a whole lot better about the blogosphere right now:
Thank you Mr. Speaker and thank you Mr. Chairman, I appreciate it.
I take the floor today not as a Democrat or Republican, but as an Iraq war veteran who was a Captain with the 82nd Airborne Division in Baghdad.
I speak with a heavy heart for my fellow paratrooper Specialist Chad Keith, Specialist James Lambert and 17 other brave men who I served with who never made it home.
I rise to give voice to hundreds of thousands of patriotic Pennsylvanians and veterans across the globe who are deeply troubled by the President's call to escalate the number of American troops in Iraq.
I served in Baghdad from June of 2003 to January of 2004. Walking in my own combat boots, I saw first hand this Administration's failed policy in Iraq.
I led convoys up and down "Ambush Alley" in a Humvee without doors - convoys that Americans still run today because too many Iraqis are still sitting on the sidelines.
I served in al-Rashid, Baghdad which, like Philadelphia, is home to 1.5 million people. While there are 7,000 Philadelphia police officers serving like my father in Philadelphia, protecting its citizens, there were only 3,500 of us in al-Rashid, Baghdad.
Mr. Speaker, the time for more troops was four years ago. But this President ignored military experts like General Shinseki & General Zinni, who in 2003, called for several hundred thousand troops to secure Iraq.
Now Mr. Speaker, our President again is ignoring military leaders. Patriots like General Colin Powell, like General Abizaid, and members of the bi-partisan Iraq Study Group who oppose this escalation
But most importantly, Mr. Speaker, Congresses in the past did not stand up to the President and his policies. But today I stand with my other military veterans some who were just elected - like Sergeant Major Tim Walz, Admiral Joe Sestak, and Commander Chris Carney. We stand together to tell this Administration that we are against this escalation and that Congress will no longer give the President a blank check.
Mr. Speaker, close to my heart is a small park on the corner of 24th and Aspen Streets in Philadelphia. This is the Patrick Ward Memorial Park.
Patrick Ward was a door gunner in the U.S. Army during Vietnam. He was killed serving the country that he loved. He was the type of guy that neighborhoods devote street corners to and parents name their children after - including my parents, Marge and Jack Murphy.
Mr. Speaker, I ask you - how many more street-corner memorials are we going to have for this war?
This is what the President's proposal does - it sends more of our best and bravest to die refereeing a civil war.
Just a month ago Sgt. Jae Moon from my district in Levittown, Bucks County was killed in Iraq.
You know, a few blocks away from this great chamber, when you walk in the snow, is the Vietnam Memorial, where half of the soldiers listed on that wall died after America's leaders knew our strategy would not work.
It was immoral then and it would be immoral now to engage in the same delusion.
That's why Mr. Speaker, sending more troops into civil war is the wrong strategy. We need to win the War on Terror and reasonable people may disagree on what to do, but most will agree that it is immoral to send young Americans to fight and die in a conflict without a real strategy for success.
The President's current course is not resolute, it is reckless.
That is why I will vote to send a message to our President that staying the course is no longer an option.
Mr. Speaker, its time for a new direction in Iraq. From my time serving with the 82d Airborne Division in Iraq, it became clear that in order to succeed there, we must tell the Iraqis that we will not be there forever. Yet, three years now since I have been home, it's still Americans leading convoys up and down Ambush Alley and securing Iraqi street corners.
We must make Iraqis stand up for Iraq - and set a timeline to start bringing our heroes home.
That's why I am proud to be an original cosponsor - with Senator Barack Obama and fellow paratrooper, Congressman Mike Thompson - of the Iraq De-Escalation Act - a moderate and responsible plan to start brining our troops home, mandating a surge in diplomacy, and refocusing our efforts on the War on Terror in Afghanistan.
Mr. Speaker, our country needs a real plan to get our troops out of Iraq, to protect our homeland and secure and refocus our efforts on capturing and killing Osama bin Laden and al Qaeda.
There are over 130,000 American servicemen and women serving bravely in Iraq. Unfortunately, thousands more are on the way.
Mr. Speaker, an open-ended strategy that ends in more faceless road-side bombs in Baghdad and more street-corner memorials in America, is not one that I will support.
I yield back the remainder of my time.
When I saw Patrick Murphy on swearing in day, back on January 4th, I moved to shake his hand. Instead of shaking my hand, he gave me a big hug. You guys played a big role helping him win, by less than 2,000 votes, with the $165K you raised for him on Act Blue. Now, you can be the first person to donate to his re-election campaign at the new Dailykos / MyDD / Swing State project Blue majority page.
The Hill published an article highlighting some of the fundraising efforts of freshmen Democrats in the House. Apparently, many are doing quite well. David Loebsack (IA-02) has raised about $71,000. Kirsten Gillebrand (NY-20) has raised $65,000 in PAC money alone. Earl Perlmutter (CO-07) has raised $79,000. Charlie Wilson (OH-06) has raised $34,000. Paul Hodes has raised $35,000. Jason Altmire (PA-04) and Patrick Murphy (PA-08) have both raised $50,000 in PAC money alone. Zack Space (OH-18) and Steven Kagen (WI-08) have both raised $35,000 in PAC money.
As far as simple financial numbers go, this is good news. All of these candidates are vulnerable to some degree. So, if all of these House members are already off to good starts, they may be able to force out potentially strong challenges early on.
But the article also has some worrying relevations. For one thing, Nancy Boyda (KS-02) has raised only $13,000. Considering the presidential vote in her district (Bush won it by 20 points), Boyda is probably one of our top five most vulnerable Democrats. Plus, she will not have Sebelius' coattails helping her and will instead have to contend with the Republican tide at the top of the ticket from the eventual Republican nominee and Senator Pat Roberts. Finally, she will possibly face a rematch against Jim Ryun. More over the flip...
(cross-posted at Progressive Wave and Daily Kos)
Yesterday, the 110th Congress began its work in Washington, D.C. After 12 years in the oft-oppressed minority at the Capitol, Nancy Pelosi and Harry Reid became the leaders of the House and the Senate, promising to work in bipartisan fashion. Although I wish there was a victory party for Ned Lamont (another candidate I had volunteered for this election cycle) to visit, I was able to attend one for Rep. Patrick Murphy, who won his congressional race by a slim margin of 1,518 votes. If the reception he received today from his constituents and other fans of his is any indication, he has a bright future ahead of him in the House of Representatives. I decided to catch a train down from New York to partake in the festivities.
Dear Netroots Supporters,
It's now been over a week since you helped to send a message to Washington - a message of hope for a better America, a message of change. Since I started this journey over a year ago, I always hoped to be a part of that change in Washington. Not many people believed in me from the very beginning. Not many people thought the son of a cop and a legal secretary born in a row home in Northeast Philadelphia could ever help to bring change to Washington.
(cross-posted at Deny My Freedom and Daily Kos)
It's been a few days since that night, but I thought I'd take some time to recap my Election Night. Originally, I had only intended to attend the post-election party for PA-08 Democratic candidate Patrick Murphy, as I had prior academic obligations that I needed to tend to. Nevertheless, I found some time to make it out to the district for some very hurried GOTV work before heading over to the party and having a hell of a night. The campaign had planned 3 waves of GOTV effort, and I made it to campaign headquarters around 4:30 in the afternoon, shortly before the last wave was scheduled to hit the pavement. Water bottles were collected, people collected flashlights for the after-dark canvassing, and then it was time for us to head out. This was it - the final push to make sure we got everyone out to vote. After nearly 10 weekends of volunteering for the campaign, it was coming down to who had the better ground game. Patrick's campaign had well over 1,000 volunteers in the entire district - an astounding number of people sacrificing their time to help get him elected. Before we headed out, though, we had a pep talk from the man himself...
Does anyone know what's going on with Patrick Murphy and Mike Fitzpatrick? I am reading that Fitz is refusing to concede. Any other info out there?
(cross-posted at Deny My Freedom and Daily Kos)
I first met PA-08 Democratic candidate Patrick Murphy almost 1 year ago. It wasn't a big event - we cleared leaves from the local YMCA parking lot and playgrounds with the other candidate in the running for the nomination, former Bucks County commissioner Andy Warren. I didn't know much about Patrick, but I had heard his biography - Iraq war veteran, law professor, and all-around stand-up guy - and came away very impressed with him as a candidate. He's come a long way since those days, when his candidacy was seen as something of a longshot due to being a political novice. Nevertheless, the latest polls show a very close race, and Patrick's picked up the support of Democrats, Republicans, and independents throughout the district, as I've seen in the past.
Today was the last day I could volunteer for his campaign, but it was one hell of a day. Patrick's going to be Representative Murphy in a few days, if this is any indication.
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